Bass is way too dialed-up to be accurate. No way to listen passively via an audio cable. No protective pouch.

Bottom Line

The Sony MDR-XB650BT is a comfortable Bluetooth headphone pair that excels at delivering seriously intense bass.

Bass lovers, you know who you are. I'm not referring to those who merely enjoy some added low-end in the mix, I mean those who want to hear the equivalent of a massive subwoofer rattling their brain around when listening to headphones. Sony's XB ("extra bass") lineup is here to serve you. The $99.99 Sony MDR-XB650BT wireless headphones deliver absolutely thunderous Bluetooth audio that will have purists running in horror and bass <spanfiends smiling with glee. There's nothing subtle about the MDR-XB650BT's massive, bass-heavy sound signature, but at least there's enough presence to keep things intelligible. The headphones are also quite comfortable, but bereft of accessories.

DesignAvailable in black, blue, or red, the plastic outer panel of the MDR-XB650BT has an alluring brushed aluminum look to it. The earpads and inside of the headband are generously lined with cushioning, making them quite comfortable, even during longer listening periods. Inside the swiveling circular, supra-aural (on-ear) cups, 1.18-inch neodymium drivers deliver the audio.

The right earcup houses controls for power and volume (the volume works independently of your device's master volume) on its outer rim, as well as a rocker for track navigation, playback, and call management. This is also where the pinhole microphone is located, as well as the micro USB port for charging via the included USB cable.

It's a shame there's no ability to listen to audio passively via a cable. The price of the pair is low enough that it's not a deal breaker, but plenty of competing models offer wired listening (and include a cable) as a way to save battery life or to use the headphones when the battery is kicked. Sony estimates the MDR-XB650BT gets roughly 30 hours of battery life, but your results will vary with your volume levels.

The headphones are notably light on accessories. Aside from the essential charging cable, the pair ships with nothing. A protective carrying pouch or an audio cable (which would require an audio output jack on the headphones, of course) would have been welcome inclusions. In addition to Bluetooth, the headphones pair quickly and easily via NFC.

PerformanceOn tracks with powerful sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the MDR-XB650BT lets its low frequency might be known. Simply put—if you care about realistic balance in a mix, you do not want these headphones. The MDR-XB650BT is for the bass-addicted, and to Sony's credit, the extra bass is at least matched with enough higher frequency presence to keep things from sounding muddy. At top, unwise volume levels, the MDR-XB650BT doesn't distort—impressive, considering the amount of sub-bass it pumps out on a track like this.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a fair idea of what the MDR-XB650BT is really doing to mixes. The drums on this track sound positively thunderous here—they get far more bass presence than they normally would. Again, to Sony's credit, Callahan's baritone vocals do not sound over-pumped in the low-mids whatsoever—the mega-boosting is happening squarely in the deepest bass frequencies, which is partially how the headphones manage to avoid a muddy mix. Callahan's vocals and the guitar strumming get enough treble edge and presence in the high-mids to add some definition to the mix. But we can't say the highs add much balance—this seesaw is heavily weighted toward one end.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets very little noticeable help in the high-mids, where its typically piercing attack lives. Thus, the loop sounds thunderous and heavy, and not sharp like it might through a more balanced sound signature. The drum thuds are exceptionally powerful on this track, even more than the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat—it's rare for the lows of this loop to overshadow the synth hits, which is another testament to the sculpting and boosting happening here.

The Sony MDR-XB650BT is marketed as an "extra bass" headphone pair, and that's exactly what you get—along with a very comfy build. Booming bass fiends will absolutely love these headphones, while purists (or even those who really like bass but also want some general balance delivered in the mix) will not be thrilled. For those listeners, there are several on-ear options in the $100 for that combine bass with more balance. Consider the Skullcandy Grind Wireless, the Sony MDR-ZX770BT, the Urbanears Active Hellas, or, for far less, the bass-forward Jabra Move Wireless.

Sony MDR-XB650BT

Sony MDR-XB650BT

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